Monday, 16 January 2017

Democracy in action! Just 8 men own same wealth as half the world: As much wealth as 3.6 billion people

Photo Psychology Today

As a blogger and the fact I have friends
and associates all over the world I need my Microsoft working computer and
Facebook to survive, however the fact I’m contributing to the $140 Billion net
worth of Bill Gates and Mark Zuckerberg makes me, to put it mildly, uneasy.

In a new report the gap between the
super-rich and the poorest half of the global population is starker than
previously thought, with just eight men, from Bill Gates to Michael Bloomberg,
owning as much wealth as 3.6 billion people, according to an analysis by Oxfam
released Monday.

When hundreds of millions of people are
trapped in poverty and try to survive on a dollar a day, thousands more dying
of hunger or disease every day the fact that just 8 people have as much money
as half the population of the world is simply staggering.

Presenting its findings on the dawn of the
annual gathering of the global political and business elites in the Swiss ski
resort of Davos, anti-poverty organization Oxfam says the gap between the very
rich and poor is far greater than just a year ago. It's urging leaders to do
more than pay lip-service to the problem.

If not, it warns, public anger against this
kind of inequality will continue to grow and lead to more seismic political
changes akin to last year's election of Donald Trump as U.S. president and
Britain's vote to leave the European Union.

"It is obscene for so much wealth to
be held in the hands of so few when 1 in 10 people survive on less than $2 a
day," said Winnie Byanyima, executive director of Oxfam International, who
will be attending the meeting in Davos. "Inequality is trapping hundreds
of millions in poverty; it is fracturing our societies and undermining
democracy."

Oxfam used Forbes' billionaires list that
was last published in March 2016 to make its headline claim. According to the
Forbes list, Microsoft founder Gates is the richest individual with a net worth
of $75 billion. The others, in order of ranking, are Amancio Ortega, the
Spanish founder of fashion house Inditex, financier Warren Buffett, Mexican
business magnate Carlos Slim Helu, Amazon boss Jeff Bezos, Facebook creator
Mark Zuckerberg, Oracle's Larry Ellison and Bloomberg, the former mayor of New
York.

Oxfam outlined measures that it hopes will
be enacted to help reduce the inequality.